Cotton compress



June 17, 1924. 1,498,005 R. D. WEBB .COTTON COMPRESS Filed Jan. 30. 1919 III/l Patented June 17, 1924.

Meshes ROBERT D. WEBB, or MINDEN, LOUISIANA.

common ooMP n-Ess.

Application filedJannary 30, serial No. 2;?4,0 26. I I

To. all whomit may concern:

@Be it known that ROBERT lvnne a citizen of the United States, residing Minden, parish of Webster, gtate of. Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Compresses, which thetollowing. 1s a spec fication.

The present invention relates to cotton compresses of the high density type and more particularly to'iiniproveinents in this class ofj'ihachines whereby the baleis shaped .so't'hat Whenbanded' and removed from the compress the expansronot the'hale is very slight. e t I --;;In one type of compresses the top and bottom of the bale only are acted upon. These maclnnes may be, termed low dens ty v compresses. In another type ot machines,

four sides of the bale are acted upon. This type may be termed highfdensity compresses.

Heretotfore the bale as compressed in eitherthehigh density or lotv density coinpresses had .sharpfcorners, and consequently after the bale had been handed and the sure of the compress removed, the baleenpanded enormously even Wit-l1 good ty ng, as

the bands pressed intoithebales att-hese sharp sqnare corners. The expansion occurred in the direction of the compression.

The present invention contemplates the provision of means in density on;- presses whereby the above ment oned defect is eliminated. To thisend 1 the] compress is constructed so that the baleistormed ivith ,well rounded corners. bands do not'press into the corners, hut remain tight, thus preventing a large part of th xp i th e. the :1

" b nd e smei t tlw he reemer e a a a H p'ro ect1on's 13 and 14 and the nteriorsursame. I The amount ofexpansionallovvedthe bale by the bands cutting into thefco rners will be apparent from "the following'experiment. It a string thirty nches long is stretchedi ti ht, and its ends then .moved towards each ot er.

smallamountot onefourth of an inch at each endpit .ivill be tound'that this movement produces sutficient slackin the string so that the middle portion thereof may be inoved'severa'l incheslaterally. *The portions of the bands on the sides of the compressed bale correspond to this string. lVhen the bands press into the corners, even it only a slight amount, sufficient slack is produced on its two sides so that the corn pressed bale will expand several inches in sharp corners, when pressure i the bale allowed to expand.

Qonsequently the platen."

the direction of its compression. Even with platens which -produce uniform? curvature or the sides otfth' conipreissed bale; as the corners are sharp this 'encessive"eXpa; "ion takes place asthe bandspress 'intoitfhese s removed ant in The objects'and features of novelty of the invention 'ivillbe apparent front thet lescriptron t akeny 1n c"onn'ectlon with the drawings Figure l is a sectional elevation of a percon' pression positions.

adapted tobe incorporated "in any "of the 'high den'sity compresses. The compress i'llustratedni Figure'lis of tlief type"described, and -claimed in the patent tof Si J.

Webb; No. '828 O O2'fbut it to be understood v that the "invention is not limited tofa vmachine ofthe exact constructi n "illustrated. I

.ing'thefsurfacebf the and bottom of'the 7 bale, to tvhich'the compressing 'Refe'rriiigfto the drawings the numeral 10 'f'lheVfatu es"of' the presentinvention are tion or ahig'li density compress having the indicates tlie'uppe 'stationaryplateNivhich hast plate 11* sectiecrtherae erm with the usual transverse ribs 12. Thes ribs adj'acent their ends are formed withthe' inwvard curved so that they 'smoothlyljoin the faces otjthe ribs. e

' The lower platen 15 has the usual platen plate 16 formed with the transverse ribs'17. At their ends these" ribs have the inward projections 18 and 19, the interior surfaces 18" and 19 of which are curved to smoothly join the faces of theribs. The platen l5jflS mounted "for movement toward the fuper Any suitable mechanism (not shown) may not be used for this purpose.

For the purpose of acting on the sides of the bale the compress is provided With a pair of pivoted doors 20 and 21. As shown the door 20 is pivoted at its lower edge as at 22 and the door 21 is pivoted at 23. Means is provided for swinging these'doors about their pivots toward each other to act on the bale. The mechanism for thus moving the doors may comprise a pair of toggle links 2i and 25. One end of the link 24: is pivoted to the upper portion of a door and the other end is pivoted to the link 25 as at 26, one end of the link 25 being mounted on a fixed pivot 27. A reach rod 28 has'its lower end secured to the pivot 26 and when this rod is moved in an upward direction, the toggle links are straightened out thereby swinging the doors on their pivots.

The upper portions of the faces of the doors 20 and 21 are provided with the projections 29 and 30 respectively, the interior surfaces 29 and 30 of which are curved. The curvature of these surfaces is such that they smoothly join the faces of the side doors, and when the doors are in the position shown in Figure 2 form practically smooth continuations of the curved surfaces ..13 and 14 of the upper platen plate 11.

In the operation of the compress a bale is placed ,on the lower platen and the side doors are then swung toward each other to reform the bale making it narrower, the doors assuming the position shown in Figure 2. Thereafter the lower platen is moved toward the upper platen to compress the bale. The curved surfaces on the upper platen and the complementary curved surfaces on the side doors act to form well rounded corners at the top of the bale. In a similar manner the curved surfaces 18 and 19 of the lower platen form rounded corners at the bottom of the bale. Further- ,more as the projections 18 and 19 of the lower platen prevent lateral displacement of the layers of cotton immediately adjacent the same, the rubbing action of these layers ofcotton on the side doors is eliminated, so that the efficiency of the compress is increased.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a press having side members adapted merely to reform the bale, it is to be understood that the side members might be of the type which exert compression on the bale. Furthermore, while these doors are shown pivoted, it is obvious that they might be mounted in other ways.

Although an embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, it is to be understood that it is not thus limited but includes modifications and changes which come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is 1. In a cotton compress, in combination, a stationary platen, a platen movable to and from the stationary platen, apair of side doors between which the movable platen operates, saidmovable platen provided with means to form the balev with a pair of rounded corners, and said side doors and stationary platen having complementary means to round another pair of corners of the bale.

2. In a cotton compress, in combination, a stationary platen, a platen movable to and from the stationary platen, a pair of side doors between which the movable platen operates, said movable platen provided with projections having curved surfaces to form the bale with a pair of rounded corners, said stationary platen and doors also having projections with'curved surfaces to round another pair of corners of the bale, the curved surfaces of the doors being substantially smooth continuations of the curved surfaces of the stationary platen.

3. In a cotton compress, in combination, a stationary platen, side doors adapted to occupy a position perpendicular to the platen, the interior surfaces of said doors adjacent the platen being curved toward each other, the adjacent surface of the platen also being curved to form substantially a smooth continuation of the door surfaces, said curved surfaces acting to round thecorners of the bale, and a platen movable between said doors to and from the stationary platen, said movable platen provided with projections at a pair of opposite edges formed with curved surfaces to round another pair of corners of the bale.

4:. A cotton compress comprising a pair of platens adapted to compress the bale in one direction, a pair of members operative to act on the bale in a direction at right angles to the first mentioned direction, and means rigidly secured to the platens and members to form the bale with rounded corners.

5. A high density cotton compress comprising a pair of platens adapted to compress the bale in one direction and members operative to act on the bale in another direction, said platens and members having their pressing faces shaped to form the bale with rounded corners.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ROBERT D. WEBB. 

